Economist Peter Schiff Announces Run Against Chris Dodd

Economist Peter Schiff will run for Chris Dodd's Senate seat, he announced today on MSNBC.

Schiff, an economist who runs a brokerage firm, has earned fame over the past year for his book, called Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse, and his predictions that the economy would collapse. He's running as a Republican and already faces four challengers in the primary: former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, State Sen. Sam Caligiuri, Former Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley and former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, who's seen as the front-runner.

"I can't sit idly by and watch a train wreck in slow motion," Schiff said this morning.

"The main reason I think we should get rid of Chris Dodd is, he represents everything that is wrong with Congress. He is potentially the poster boy for the economic crisis, [and for] the much bigger crisis we're gonna go through over the next few years if someone doesn't go to Washington and put a stop to these destructive policies," he said.

The state Democratic party has already released a statement attacking Schiff for his lack of experience.

"The fact that I haven't had experience ruining the country, that I haven't brought the banking system to its knees," he said, "that's my greatest attribute."

Schiff said he wants to bring American troops home. "We need to have a sound economy before we can afford the luxury of having troops around the world," he said.

On health care, he rattled off several conservative talking points, saying the government should open up insurance competition across state lines and reform malpractice law.

"The solution to health care is the solution to anything," he said. "It's the free market."

He said a "grassroots effort to try to draft me" began a year ago, and he's raised more than $1 million so far.